The Everyday Ageism Project

The Everyday Ageism Project aims to capture people’s everyday experiences of ageism. Research by EURAGE shows that across the European region, ageism is the most commonly experienced form of prejudice, yet relatively little is known about how it is experienced, who experiences it and the situations which may leave people vulnerable to age discrimination.

By providing a safe forum for people to anonymously share their experiences, the project aims to understand the consequences of ageism and the ways that age discrimination can affect people’s everyday lives. We also wish to encourage people to share their stories to show that ageism does exist and that it is a valid problem worth discussing.


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Monday 10 December 2012

Too Old for Treatment?

Daughter tells how her mother was treated in hospital 


"My mother [in her mid 80's] was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which had spread to other organs. During a meeting with a consultant she said to us "We have no idea how advanced the cancer is, but due to the age of your mother we will not carry out any investigations or any treatment.  Thank you and goodbye".  If my mother had been younger, I feel they would have carried out a biopsy, or some kind of investigation.  It was almost as if she was too old for them to be bothering with. We were stunned, firstly by the news, then with the fact that we were going to be left to look after my mother with no support from the hospital."

The consultants were estimated to be around 40 to 55 years.

2 comments:

  1. I have heard a similar story- an elderly friend of my mothers (around 78 years old) was repeatedly ignored by her GP when she complained of stomach pains. Her GP felt she was being 'dramatic' or 'exaggerating' her pain or that she just wanted someone to talk to as she lived alone. She later collapsed and was taken to hospital where they found a sizeable tumour in her stomach. By that point it was too late to treat her and they put her into a hospice. The GP was around 40-50 years old.

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  2. This is pretty terrible... it is like assigning different values to life according to the age.

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